Inquisitor Adrastia's files: The arrival of the Chaos Bringer
by Rustic94
Summary: Four years since the resolution of the Aurelia crisis, the Sub-sector recovering from the war. Castor is bored out of his mind from the stable Sub-sector and Merrick is happily preparing to go on shore leave. Then Adrastia contacts them. A new threat looms on the horizon, one that even Chaos despises. They must investigate this new threat and stop it, only how do you stop a god?
1. Chapter 1: Another day, another planet

_Author's notices: This will be a short story with three chapters. If it does well enough, I'll probably make more shorts linked to this story, with permission from the one of the original inspirers of this story;_

_My friend Artark who is doing some off site work in which this story is for, his idea, my contribution to his idea. And Ursakar and he's story: The mission stays the same, which is the best one of the best WH40k/ME crossover I've seen._

_I apologise in advance to WH40k grimdark fans as this story may not be grimdark enough for ye. Also, there will be only one character from Transformers I'm afraid, but one every TF fan knows. If reviewing, don't be afraid to put in criticisms as long as they have a reason and not simply 'your story sucks' reasons. This story will get violent later on, so be patient._

_Disclaimer: I do not own Warhammer 40k or Transformers. They belong to GW and Hasbro, Takara Tomy respectively. Dawn of war series belongs to Relic and whoever their publisher is. Any future references to novels belong to the publisher or their authors._

* * *

**_Chapter 1: Another day, another planet_**

_**Location: Sector Korianis, Sub-sector Aurelia, orbit around Hive world Meridian, space port Helios. **_

**Year: #data corruption#, Year circa M41-42**

**Time: #data corruption#**

**Subject matter: #data corruption#**

**Message to Transmechanic Rustous Lag****: Get your sorry metal [CENSORED] over here and fix this Russ's cursin' data corruption. If Inquisitor Adrastia finds any flaws in these records she'll [CENSORED] and [CENSORED] then [CENSORED], so get to it [CENSORED] or I'll bring you down with me when that ice-cold [CENSORED] starts a callin'. **

**Sincerely, Adeptus Felic Culix **

**Note # 24.564: Must find excuse to transfer to new job, preferably, anywhere but here. And change message before she sees it.**

_Another day, another shit storm_ Merrick thought grimly, his footsteps echoing through the cold, steel plated corridor. He always hated being part of the Imperial Guard, too many risks for too little rewards at the end assome of the more rebellious guards murmured. Of course that's if you live long enough to retirement without being eaten, torn or blasted apart from the countless horrors inhabiting the Galaxy. _Two bloody days from shore leave, _Merrick bitterly thought._ Two more days until that well needed break. Now I have to endure that arrogant son of a bitch, Lord General Castor, and our recently returned cold-hearted bitch, Adrastia. _

"That's Inquisitor Adrastia to _you_. And I'm a cold-hearted bitch, a cold-hearted bitch with _limitless_ power, and don't _you_ forget it."

Merrick shouted in surprise, turning towards the voice. Adrastia was leaning back against a doorway, smiling at Merrick. _Shit how did I not notic-_ A cold clear voice spoke in his mind, _because you were too busy frowning on your duty to the God-Emperor, Baldy_. Merrick's hand subconsciously reached up and mournfully rubbed his bald scalp. Anger built up in Merrick, but then the feeling extinguished, quickly to be replaced with one of fear and caution. He remembered now that the recently returned Adrastia had learned how to use her psychic powers to sense people's emotions and observe their thoughts, and the moodier the person, the easier their were to observe.

"Good, you've learnt to control your emotions since that time you bashed your gun into Castor's face." Adrastia said, she stepped away from the doorframe and stood in front of Merrick, who stood more tensely in response. Adrastia found the thought of Merrick; whose greater size and bulk far outstripped her own, being completely terrified of her despite her smaller size was both humorous and satisfying. "I still question if you respect and venerate the Go-"

"I do respect the God-Emperor, I just believe that those who are risking their lives _should_ be given more respect from their _commanders_." Merrick interrupted, he stared her down, doing his best with a confident smile and proud posture.

"Merrick… you're _naïve_ as always. Never forget Merrick it's every man, woman and child's duty to serve the God-emperor and their follow Imperials, be through war or peace, no matter the cost or reward for their service. The blood of martyrs, is t-"

"The seed of the Imperium. You don't need to repeat what ol' Father Geveria tells us constantly, the poor bastard is still depressed since he lost his lower half of his body to a haywire teleporter field." Adrastia winced as Merrick mentioned the teleporter. Merrick couldn't blame anyone cringing at the idea of seeing someone get their ass sent to the far end of the galaxy. Although seeing Adrastia wince at such a gruesome fate, less horrifying then ones she had seen and have dealt to, was like watching a ork dance, both very humorous and very rare.

"Okay, Enough of this _interrogating_, for _today_ at least. Follow me Sergeant major like a _good _little guardsman." Adrastia smirked, gesturing for Merrick to follow her. _That should annoy him a bit more, oh these mind games of mine are truly fun to play,_ Adrastia thought evilly.

Only one word occurred in Merrick's brooding mind as he followed Adrastia to the briefing, _Bitch._ As the two travelled to their destination, Merrick noticed something was quite different now, _hmm, strange, Adrastia seems different today. I wonder what it is._ Merrick watched the striding Ordo Hereticus inquisitor in front of him, he examined her face first, _maybe it's her hair, she had allowed it to_ _grow after those fateful events four years ago, _Merrick reminisced._ Have to say those flowing red locks of hers are something, especially with those good lo__oks of hers, nope definitely not what's different about her. _Merrick watched Adrasta as she turned left into the next corridor and looked up at a map layout of the deck on the wall. Merrixk halted next to Adrastia, who tapped her index finger on her chin, memorizing the layout of the deck. Merrick then looked at the sigil over her chest plate, _same power armour as before, no new icons or amulets, damn it what is different about her _Merrick thought. He rubbed his eyebrows roughly, trying to solve this personal mystery of his._ Hmm, she does look great in that armour, definitely no slacker at physically conditioning herself I'll give her that. _Adrastia pointed to her right and strode on while Merrick followed. He was paying less attention now than before, only narrowly avoiding the dents in the metal plated floor.

"You_ lost_ ma'am?" Merrick asked with a raised eyebrow and sly smile. Adrastia inhaled deeply, closing her eyes, she tapped her glove covered fingertips on her forehead and paced back and forth. A tech priest and guardsman watched the two from inside a mess hall window, both quietly smirking whist observing Merrick and Adrastia's predicament.

"She's completely lost." Said the tech priest whist watching the green slime drip from his spoon, his still organic mouth wincing at the fool paste on his plate.

"No frak cog boy... oh looks like Handsome there is checking out our _fine_ Inquisitor." The guardsman replied, cramming spoonful of paste into his mouth only to gag a few seconds later and scratching his tongue.

"What?! He either has _large_ bolts loose in that brain of his or his some massive _balls_ of ceramite." The tech priest watch Merrick, he noted him holding his chin whilst the sergeant's gaze at the pacing Inquisitor's figure. _He's a dead man._

Merrick watched Adrastia's legs move back and forth. _Her leg armour is the same as well as her boots…Wow, those are some legs there and a nice rear view too. _Merrick remembered how some of the more artistic Guardsmen -and women- made some… questionable art work and stories of their hard and strict Inquisitor. Merrick then daydreamed away, unaware of his surroundings. He fantasized about Adrastia, imagining her as the lead star of he's favourite porn vid: 'The Private Interrogation' wearing a skimpy Inquisitor outfit and committing outrageous sexual acts. Just as his daydreams were about to reach their climax, sudden massive wave of stomach churning pain spread out from between his legs. He screamed, his hands quickly reaching down to cradle his groin as he fell down on the floor with a loud thud. Adrastia stood over him, her brow frowned and eyes glaring down at the fetal positioned Merrick.

_I can ignore the insults, but those images, not a chance in the Emperor's holy_ _name, _Adrastia's cold, furious voice echoed in Merrick's mind. Merrick suddenly realised he had forgotten about Inquisitor's new psychic talent, closing his eyes and praying, he prepared for the inevitable painful end that was surely to come._ If you're going fantasize about me, then do it tastefully, and not as some whore in those Warp cursed filth you and your men watch. _Merrick's eyes shot open, gazing up towards Adrastia, his mouth opening and closing like a fish's as he tried to answer back_. _

_What?! _He thought in his confusion, gab smacked at what he heard.

_Merrick I know it is inevitable that the men are going to fantasize about me since I'm of the few women ever around them, _Adrastia's scornful face ceased. She crossed her arms as Merrick tried slowly and painfully to stand. _I just want them to do it respectfully and tastefully. That and some fell under the influence of Chaos._

Merrick nodded his head in realisation, so_ that's why you executed some of the lads for non-specified heretical reasons_, he thought.

_Partially. Some have been fighting the Eldar witches for too long, those stupid long-eared show-offs with their graceful agility and appearance could corrupt any mind, _Adrestia turned as she her projected thoughts entered Merrick's mind, she glared at the observers behind the window, both of whom whistled an innocent tune as they tried to avoid Adrastia's glare.

_Oh, Jealous are we?_ Merrick thought with a small smile, Adrastia's face swiftly turned in his direction.

_What was that?!_ Adrastia's eyes became narrow slits that glared at Merrick's eyes, the cold, harsh eyes sent a chill down Merrick's spine. Merrick quickly replied, _a very justified reasoning ma'am, curse the foul Xenos._

Adrastia nodded, entirely satisfied with the sergeant's answer. Merrick sighed and followed her. He noticed the gaping mouths of the tech priest and guardsman, both of whom were staring at him as if he just suddenly grew four arms, he give the two a wink as he followed Adrastia. The two shared the thought as Merrick and Adrastia disappeared out of sight, _lucky frakin' bastard._

Merrick followed Adrastia in through well decorated door, Imperial symbols like the eagle and skull etched onto the steel surface of the door. Merrick was still taken aback by Castor's trophy collection; Tyranid, Necron, Ork, Kroot, Chaos scum and even Dark Eldar heads decorated the walls. Merrick smiled as he noticed one trophy over the fire-place, the traitor Chapter Master Kyras's psychic hood. Sitting in the chair in front of the fire, was the Lord General, Castor. He was polishing away at his bionic arm with a rag, one of his family's Long Las placed on his lap. Castor's eyes darted to the approaching visitors. He set down the rag, placed the long-las against the chair and flexed the fingers of his bionic arm. He wished he had put on his battle gear, made him feel sharper and confident despite saying himself that the feeling was from a naïve belief passed onto by his grandfather. He straightened this vest, it was similar in make of those worn by commissars during off duty hours; simple yet formal. Castor took off his short-sighted glasses, folding them and slipping them into the vest pocket. Castor pushed himself up out of the chair and walked over to greet his visitors.

"Sorry for the informal appearance, I was ensuring my weapon was properly maintained and this-" Castor brought up his bionic arm, the polished metal reflecting the fire light. "was functioning properly."

"I thought the Cog boys didn't like anyone trying to heal the machine spirits." Merrick said as Castor walked towards a wooden cabinet in the corner.

"They do, but my tech priestess believes this machine spirit has a particular  
attachment to me, believes it'll forever curse her and her colleagues, if I or  
it were to fell in battle due to their stubbornness." Castor pulled out a bottle of wine and three drinking glasses, pouring the wine into each glass and giving two to Adrastia and Merrick. "I however believe _she's_ the one with the _attachment_ to me." Castor chuckled as the three clinked glasses and drank from them.

"Not bad, what is this? Cadian wine?" Merrick asked, looking at the blue liquid, it tasted stronger than the well-known Valhallan alcohol tanna. _Fine stuff indeed, one of your best qualities Castor, is that you're not afraid to share with those of' lower birth' and refuse to those of 'higher birth' on the principle of merit. I'll always respect you for that._

"Catachan Wine actually." Merrick looked surprised at the answer; the three moved into the next room, white blank walls surrounding them and four seats placed in a row, vid hologrammer projecting a stream of light on the blank walls. Adrastia turned to Castor as she finished her glass.

"It's nice to see you again Castor, but I'm afraid it's straight to business. You have the vid record don't you?" Adrastia looked at Castor who nodded. _For once I don't actually consider you equals, _Adrastia thought._ Strange, it was only four years since we fought together against the odds and even put our own beliefs at risks when working with those untrustworthy Eldar. Only you Castor, Merrick and Bernn are the only few people I can hold in the same respect as Chapter Master Gabriel Angelos and his valiant Blood Ravens._

"I do. I didn't watch it as I thought its rather rude to start without your guests. Commissar Lord Bernn will not be come here as he's investigating the slums of Meridian due to rumours of Eldar activities in those areas." Castor said, swallowing the last few drops of wine. _This system was on the verge of hell, no hope, no faith, nobody to stand for the people of this sub-sector, _Castor thought bitterly_. I hated the Imperial forces here for not being strong to protect the weak, but now, they have done more than I can hope for, they've ripped the Imperial eagle from the jaws of Chaos while tearing the its jaws off in the process. I miss my beloved home Cadia, but I shall not leave my new home of Sub-sector Aurelia any time soon._

" May the God -Emperor grant him fortune, now let's see what this new crisis is."Adrastia said as she gestured for Merrick to switch the vid hologrammer on. Merrick muttered to himself as he set the his wine glass down on a nearby table.

Adrastia, Castor and Merrick take their seats and watched the recorded vid of a mysterious planet approaching the planet Aislo in a nearby sub-sector. Suddenly large metal panels spread open near the centre of the planet, a beam of light hits the planet of Aislo, cracks appear on the planet surface where the light hits. Merrick shook his head in grief, barely able to listen to the panicked and screaming radio chatter recorded from those on the Aislo. Castor twirled the edges of his moustache calmly. His eyes scanning the screen for every detail of the strange metal planet depicted in it. Adrastia fidgets in discomfort, the ability of the planet to tear chucks out of Ailso intimating her even more.

"That is no ordinary planet... this could be somewhat problematic." Adrastia said, running her fingers through her long flowing red hair. _Way harder to solve then I thought_, she thought grimly.

"Certainly something you don't see every day, and I've seen plenty of unbelievable things on Cadia." Castor said, twirling one of the edges of his moustache with his index finger.

"When the frak?! Do planets start to eat each other?!" Merrick shouted. The more natural planet in the vid broke down further into smaller pieces, the remains being gravitated towards an opening of the metal planet, devouring the parts until nothing was left.

The three Imperials all watched in awe and shock as the strange metallic planet, then suddenly changed into a giant metal being, a robot of some sort, and attacked a small approaching fleet of 6 Imperial ships including one Emperor-class battleship. The ships where blast and torn apart by the giants weapons, the Emperor-class ship being blown apart in two and then vanishing in a sudden flash of light as its reactor reached critical mass, the explosion disintegrating all the ship.

"Hmm, I'll have to make more room in my trophy collection for this one." Castor said, scratching his chin with his bionic hand. Merrick looked at him, he's head tilted as he mouthed the words 'what'.

"You're _kiddin'_, right!? That thing just destroyed an entire planet and a small fleet with an Emperor-Class battleship!" Shouted Merrick, he's eyes staring wide-eyed at Castor, the inside of his mouth dry as he tied to gulp. _He's finally gone senile from all those blows to the head,_ Merrick thought worryingly. The sound of Adrastia giggling caught his and Castor's attention as the both thought with disbelief, did_ she just giggle?_

"All we need is bigger guns, Sergeant Major Merrick. Besides I have a few _questions_ for it to answer." Adrastria's mouth stretched into a thin long line as she smiled, her eyes closing slight as face formed, as the guardsmen put it: "her 'your secrets will be mine' look."

"When did I start _volunteering _for suicide missions?"

"You don't volunteer Merrick, you_ get _volunteered by the almighty God-Emperor." responded Adrastria as she shook her head side to side, chuckling all the while at the naïve guardsman. Merrick turned to Castor, gesturing questioning with worry at Adrastia, waiting for the moustached general to response. His face fell with disappointment as Castor shrugged, who then patted Merrick on the shoulder with his bionic hand, a small grin crossing his face as he enjoyed the sergeant's angst. _I told you I was going to pay you back for that cheap shot you give me four years ago,_ Castor thought joyfully.

Merrick lowered his head, barely keeping his anger and annoyance from showing on his face. Muttering quietly to himself, _that's it_ Merrick thought as he's head suddenly raised up, a questioning expression on his face as he asked the smirking Adrastia "Where's your hat?"

Castor turned to Adrastia and thought, _that's a good question, she never leaves anywhere without that hat, she even risked her life to get it when facing that_ _Tyranid hive tyrant, that reminds me, I must polish that head of that Tyranid in my trophy collection. _Castor chuckled to himself as Adrastia's expression changed from cheerful and smug arrogance to blank and cold silence.

"I _don't _want to _talk_ about."Adrastia replied her eyebrows bended down at an angle, her mouth changing into a thin slit and sounds of teeth grinding together echoed in the room. Her right eye twitched away involuntarily at the memory of green skin and butchered low Gothic of drinking ork songs sung.

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_Sorry for these re-edits, I want these chapters done with perfection in mind. _

_If anyone wishes to beta read the next chapter, PM me and I try to send the next chapter to you as soon as the first drafts done._


	2. Chapter 2: Prometheus's fall

_Author's notes: I apologises for the delays due to college work, other projects and RL._

_I'll like to give thanks to Artark for revising the chapter and With an m16 for pointing out a background error which lead to me noticing a few I missed. _

_Also, I'm afraid no Autobots for this. Don't be afraid to leave a review, a writer needs reviews to tell if he's doing a good job. So if there's any grammar Nazis who are looking at this then post a review. For WH40k fans, this story is going to get gruesome very soon._

_Now, let the show commence _

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_**Chapter 2: Prometheus's fall**_

**Location: Sector Korianis, Sub-sector Aurelia, outer edge of the sub-sector**

**Year: M41-M42 circa**

**Time: 17:06**

**Subject matter: The machine planet and its anomalies. **

**Message to Transmechanic Rustous Lag: Thank you for fixing the data corruption. It'll keep us out of hot water for now. Also, what was that strange anomaly you mentioned the last time we met in person, what you do mean this planet is not of this dominion? And did you say it was unaffected by the ruinous powers?**

**Please reply, Sincerely, Adeptus Felic Culix**

**Note #24,565: I'm choosing the pleasure girl bar we're using for next stag party next time. You might've found the cog-girls having to [ CENSORED ] and [ CENOSRED ] fun, but I certainly didn't. Also, I'm not explaining to the medicus how and why she found [CENSORED] up there or the[CENSORED] in that and that [CENSORED] down his stomach… saying we were all drunk only works the first four times work... that and it's impossible to explain why several tech-priests had [CENSORED] there.**

* * *

**Location: Surface of Unicron**

"Adrastia, how did you lose your hat to that ork freebooter? I thought the Eldar Autich said her accomplices wiped him from the existence, after _Merrick _failed to purge him while watching the rear guard on Tyrphon Primisis" Said Castor as he followed after Adrastia. Merrick groaned, he watched as Castor and Adrastia stride on ahead of him and the team.

"Hey! I did try; it's not easy fending off a warboss when his entourage of a mek boy, kommodo and a crazy rocket Nob close in on you. I, the Catachen boys and the storm troopers only barely survived that until Brenn and his Orgyns came." Merrick shouted defensively. _I can still say Brenn has a massive pair for takin' on that warboss with nothing more than a power fist,_ Merrick thought grudgingly.

"Apparently, Lord General Castor, the Eldar bitch did not finish him off. The Blood Ravens' chief scout, Cyrus, said that Bloodflag was harder to corner then Gorgutz when the Ravens chased him in Meridan. The filthy xeno somehow pulled off a Creed trick on me and took my hat." Said Adrastia, she looked suspiciously over her shoulder at the chatting storm trooper sergeant behind Merrick. She sent a psychic thought into the sergeant's mind. _Sergeant Forn Van Cirrus, if you so much as make another 'whipped out his massive green choppa' joke or even think about it, I'll have you hunting for land mines, with a hammer._ The Inquisitor let out a small, evil chuckle to herself as she heard the mental screams of the sergeant, who walked more slowly and tried to avoid her gaze.

"Could someone tell me why are we are on a malevolent planet eating machine spirit instead of performing exterminatus on it?" asked Merrick, his and the team following after Castor and Adrastia, their magnetic boots clumping on and clumping off the metal surface of the machine planet. The squad of sixteen wore void suits, each of them with a small firing beacon and bomb carried on their backs._ This is hardly the smartest idea, can't believe I got out voted by them, damn Brenn for not being there, _Merrick thought bitterly_._ Merrick held a hotshot lasgun in one hand, he fidgeted with the strips over he's shoulder for his beacon.

Adrastia stopped in her tracks, she watched their Cruiser keeping a distance from the machine, her hand rested on the halt of her sheathed power sword._ Wish we brought a whole regiment, but that would no doubt attract unwanted attention, _she thought_._ Castor walking right behind her turned on his heel to face towards Merrick, he casually rested his long-las on his left shoulder.

"That fleet tried to do that, but this thing has some strange warp technology that redirected the shots back. We've to ensure that firing beacons and bombs are placed in this monstrosity's weak points so that our reinforcement fleet have better chance and more importantly, ensure that the beast's head is intact so I can put it in my trophy collection." Castor replied, gesturing every point with his bionic hand. Merrick sighed, his hand smacking onto he's helmet visor, _I'm stuck with mad men… well a mad man and woman, _he thought with frustration_._

"Uh…with respect, sir, the Cog-boys would lobotomise any one taking scraps of this thing, never mind an entire head!" Merrick stated as he spread his arms wide at the unusual landscape before them for further emphasis. Castor smiled as he remembered fond memories of his personal tech-priest. Castor reminisced about his other past lesions, a smile crossing his face as memories of scandals and nights of climbing down pipelines came flooding back. Castor continued to stare off into the distance as Merrick frustratingly snapped his fingers in front of the general's visor to no avail. Merrick pointed his finger at Castor only to receive shrugs of shoulders from Adrastia and Soldiers, Merrick shook his head and sighed.

"I doubt any of them will complain if I demanded any of the remaining parts for my Investigation. Plus, if you help us pull this off, I'll consider allowing you and your men eight months of R&R." said Adrastia, she crossed her arms while leaning on one leg. She then pondered a bit, _If that doesn't motive him then nothing will…well possibly Amberley's ways of convincing Cain, but that's way out of the question. _The soldiers cheered at the idea only to be stop by the three who glared at them.

"I'd still rather not do this. There's no telling what we'll find, and I will say I told you so if our doom finds us… Adry." Merrick said. He gave Adrastia a smug smirk, the soldiers preparing for the inevitable shit storm to occur. Castor stepped a bit closer just in case this situation got ugly. _Alright you asked for it Merrick,_ Adrastia thought hatefully_. Now should I flay your mind or... that's perfect, it'll ruin my reputation, but it'll catch them all off guard._

"Then Merrick, if we're cornered I'll order you to frak me right then and there on the spot." Adrastia just smiled at Merrick. Castor tilted he's head to one side, staring at the Inquisitor, _did I hear that right, Castor thought._ He tapped the side of his helmet to make sure the helmet audio feed was okay. Merrick stared with his mouth agape, his mind completely blank. The soldiers shifted around uncomfortably, all wondering if the void suit were really decontaminated. Adrastia smiled even more as she thought_ muhaha!_

"You know Merrick. You're adorable when you're speechless" said Adrastia as she started walking toward the direction that Castor and Merrick. As she walked next to Merrick, she seductively swiped her index finger across Merrick's visor. Merrick took several steps back as he muttered a silent curse in pure shock and surprise. Merrick noticed Adrastia's smile, the same smile a grotesque pink Chaos Astarte give him once when it cornered him in an alley. His could only think of one thing, _AHHHHHHHH!_

Castor shook his head as Adrastia past him as he tried to figure out what just happened. He then turned his head to Merrick, who was visibly shaking as he stared at Castor. _Getting an Inquisitor's attention, especially that form of attention, is definitely not a fate I'd wish on anyone,_ Castor thought sympathetically_._

"How in the Emperor's name did that happen?" asked Merrick who made a loud gulp as worrying thoughts popped into his head, each more worrying then the last._ Is it me or did it suddenly get hotter around here? _Merrick thought.

"Yes, this could be very... problematic, for _you_ of course." Castor said as he walked after Adrastia. I'm not getting involved in this time bomb, Castor thought. The soldiers passed Merrick who stood with a confused expression, each patting him on the shoulder, some sympathetically, others with grins. Merrick grumbled to himself as he strode after him, _I hate my life, _Merric_k_ thought bitterly_. _The squad moved forward, looking for an entrance into the beast, all the while unaware that the machine was watching and listing to their every steps and words.

A sudden tumour of movement vibrated through the magnetic boots of the Imperials, the planet was moving towards a nearby Imperial ship that had wandered into range of the beast. Inquisitor Adrastia's vox box crackled to life as the band watched fearfully as the visage of the ship came closer. "Captain Helos! Fall back, the machine is on move! Captain Helos!" Adrastia bit down on her bottom lip as the planet hovered over the Imperial ship.

* * *

**Location: command Bridge of the Imperial cruiser, Prometheus **

"Dammit! Why isn't this vessel moving away from that abomination?!" Shouted Helos, his grip tightened on the railings as he watched the monstrous planet move ever closer. The bridge crew worked feverishly to get the log-engines in command of navigation and movement to operate.

"Captain there's something in the-Ah!" Some of the crew members and Servitors plugged into their cogitators screamed, they thrashed around as they tried to unplug themselves. Blood flowed from their eyes and ears, those with bionics either died from strangulation from their own arms or being ripped asunder from their augments blowing part. The other crew members quickly reacted and prevented a few more deaths; they watched in horror as the saved human crew members frothed at the mouth, screaming madness induce words as they thrashed around in hysteria. The vox systems buzzed with static, a cold, stoic voice addressed the crew of the Prometheus.

"Loathsome little parasites, you believe you can harm me, Unicron the chaos bringer. I have devoured countless universes; extinguished billions of civilisations, your fates shall be no different than those before you." The crew around Helos watched, their faces a mixture of fear and dread. Helos saw their faces and then pressed the vox button near him. _Can't let them down,_ Helos thought as he prepared to speak.

"You think you're the first, _abomination_. Humanity, no, the Imperium has been threaten by countless monstrosities like you. The God-Emperor has destined Humanity to conquer and rule the galaxy; by his guiding hand we struck foes like you from the galaxy and you shall be no different!" The crew looked up to Helos, they listen to his every word. Those in the gun batteries looked up at the vox speakers, smiles on their faces as they listened to their captain, the same one who treated them as human beings, mutant or not.

"Crew of the Prometheus ready yourself, act with courage and valour, don not forget we are the Children of Terra! Strike for the Imperium, strike for your fellows, strike for Humanity " The crew cheered, shouting oaths and prayers. The crew in other parts of the ship got to their stations, every crew member, rating and officer alike prepared together to help the Prometheus to strike at its foe.

"Haha, my brother Primus cannot help you parasites now, your empire will know my wrath." The crew around Helos ran to their stations, plugging into systems and sending coordinates to the gun batteries. Helos stood tall, he watched with a proud gaze at his crew, ready to fight to the bitter end if necessary. Helos nodded to his second in command, Dilois to prepare the void suits. He then spoke into the vox box again.

"Fire all weapons on that beast! Make the Emperor and me proud this day!" Helos shouted into the vox box feed. The cruiser's batteries all aimed towards the Unicron, shots of shells, plasma and laser fire steamed across the void of space, honing in on the machine planet. Then a green portal appeared some the shells and shots disappeared into the gaping portal only to disappear. The crew in the command bridge stared in shock and surprise at this event. Helso rubbed his eyes twice as he look out the window.

"What in the Emperor's na-" Helos heartbeat slowed as the vid showed another portal appeared behind he's vessel, the redirected fire pelted the vessel, the purple field of energy evaporating as it collapsed from the strain of sub sustained firepower. Helos gripped the railings for dear life as the ship rocked violently from the impact of shells on its rear thrusters. he crew continued un batteries continued to fire at Unicron. The team on Unicron ran as the Imperial shots impacted on the hull.

* * *

"Dammit! This has gone to the Wa-" The guardsman never finished his sentence as a beam of light slammed a three feet in front of him, the front half of his body vaporised, his suit and flesh melting from the intense heat, as hole about twenty feet was left from the shot. The guardsman, Jain, cried out and was pulled away by Castor to avoid the laser fire that was raining down around them.

"Great! Their harming it, but are possibly going to kill us in the process!" Shouted Merrick as the team tried to find cover. Then another tremor vibrated from the metal ground, the team watched in amazement as tall pillars turned in direction of the ship. Then laser fire shot out from Unicron, the barrage obliterating the batteries in flashes of light. The squad on Unicron watched in horror as the tower defences on Unicron continue to inflict more punishment on the Prometheus, destroying parts of the ship completely. Then a beam of light from Unicron surrounded the ship as other vessels of the Imperial fleet moved in to support the crippled vessel.

Adrastia activated her vox box again. "Helos, get the Prometheus out of range now! Do you hear me? Get out of there now!" She could only hear static and a voice, cold, malicious voice chuckling quietly amongst the static. _No it can't be,_ a new frightening realistion of the situation occurring to her,_ it not Chaos abomination or a Dark age of technology AI, it's something much worse._

* * *

Helos listened as the metal infrastructure groaned in protest of the strain from the beam's power. Helos looked at the crew who started to evacuate the bridge, they scream for him to follow them. He shook his head, the void suited second in command, Dilosia, could only nod and turn away. Helos sat down in the command chair. _A captain goes down with his ship, isn't that right uncle, _Helos thought. He brought his hands to his chest, the hands cross one another, the thumbs interlocked to form a double headed eagle.

"God-Emperor, I've done my best. Please guide Lord General Castor and his team into the heart of this beast and give them the strength to destroy it." The walls bulked and gave way, the reinforced windows of the command bridge shattered. Helos still remained in his seat, a metal beam skewered through his stomach, the hands still forming the aquila as the bridge was torn apart and floated towards the light. His body still remained in the seat, making the sign of the Imperial aqulia.

Dilosia ran with her fellow voidsmen, their suits protecting them the vacuum of the space as parts of the hull were torn from their support beams. Dilosia turned to see millions of ratings and indentured workers ran to the shuttles. Then another part of the hull collapse, several voidmen crashed into pulp or severed from the jagged metal, the debris and corpses floated in the direction of the light. Dilosia saw a nearby battleship trying to engage the massive foe, then a chuck of its hull was torn off and laser fire impacting into the ruins. To Dilosia's horror explosions ruptured out of the battleship, its power core for the macrobatteries properly hit by the laser fire. Then the floor beneath her was violently ripped from its place, she floated off it and could only watch as she and the debris moved closer to the monster.

She couldn't believe the sight before her, the Prometheus and two battleships destroyed. The feeling of hope completely evaporated as the retreating squadron fled, two more ships, escorts that disappeared in flashes of light as the barrage of laser fire struck home.

* * *

"No!" Merrick shouted he shook his head; he wanted to look away yet could not. He could hear some guardsmen sobbing quietly to themselves, others shouted oaths of fury and some just quietly watching the bodies and debris come towards the monster. The rescue vessels retreated as they took more losses, the ripped and crushed battleships reminding them of the power of the metal planet. A loud whistle emitted from the vox box in their suits. Castor indicated for them to follow him into the hole. So they all quietly followed, trying to ignore the tragedy that was happening above.

They slowly prepared to descend down the hole. The tech-priest, Machinous, set up five steel cables for which the team would descend down into the dark abyss by. The atmosphere was claustrophobic for the Imperials, the cold, dark foreboding tunnels certainly didn't help calm their feeling about this place. _This is truly a work of a xenos; but not the elder it's too alien for them and not jagged enough for their darker kin either. It's not the Necrons, too organic looking and their tech emits a green aura not purple, _Machinous pondered further over the infrastructure of the machine. The group travelled further into the tunnel, Merrick held up his hand for the group to stop. The sounds of screeching echoed throughout the corridor, Castor gestured for the group to follow him into the next tunnel to the right. The team ran as fast as possible, the screeching following after them.

They then enter a large open space room, to their surprise a makeshift camp filled with Imperial equipment lay before them. The team of Imperials scattered into the camp, picking places to hide. Castor and Adrastia found a rhino APC near the encampment, the backdoor to their relief was open. To their shock it was filled with bodies, husked and torn corpses whose hollowed eyes glared at them. Castor and Adrastia looked behind them as the screeches got near, they dived right into the corpses. They covered themselves with the bodies in hope of hiding from their pursuers. A large winged machine hovered near the entrance of the rhino, the purple circuits lighting itself in the dark. It peered closer into the rhino. Adrastia looked to her to avoid it's gaze only to met the gaze of a husked body of a child, flashbacks went through Adrastia's mind as the dead child's hollow eyes seem to gaze into her soul. Castor tightened his grip on his long-las. He know he might not survive if it spotted them, but it didn't mean dying like a coward.

Then a charged bolt of plasma fire blasted into it, the metal around its eye melting from the heat of the pressured gas. Then Adrastia and Castor heard a grunt, a smoking plasma gun flied through the air right into the sting ray shaped machine. The gun exploded in a blinding flash of light, the machine's remains were a heap of burnt, melted metal that fused with the ground. they heard the sound of footsteps and Sergeant Fron appeared, he moved into the rhino avoiding stepping on the bodies and helped the Lord General and Inquisitor up.

"Sorry ma'am and sir, I only charged the plasma gun because that thing look like it could take more than a few shots." Fron joined Merrick in helping the guards sort through the equipment in the crates. Mechinous approached Castor, who nodded to Machinous and formed a sign of the Adeptues Machanicus with his two thumbs and index fingers. Adrastia looked at the pile of corpses in the rhino; she lowered her head and shakes it.

"Castor, this encampment shows signs of a Great Crusade exploration team. Also, it safe enough to take the void suits off, which is strange since machines wouldn't have a need for oxygen." Castor turned as he heard someone choking; Merrick was thumping his chest while holding a canteen. Castor started to take off his void suit; he then straightened his battle gear and addressed Machinous.

"I'm assuming this abomination's defences killed the exploration team when they wok-" Machinous held up his hand interrupting as he studied a holoslate Jain handed him. He strode over towards the rhino and examined the corpses inside. Castor and Adrastia joined him; both wondering what was going through his half machine brain.

"There were about sixty tech-priests on this exploration group. None of these corpses have any bionics." Machinous stated, he looked at the studies mentioned in the holoslate. Castor and Adrastia examined the corpses and found he was right, they then notice another detail.

"Their missing limbs, even some of their internal organs are gone. Do you think that either the machine or tech-priests have..." Adrastia shook her head; Machinous examined a nearby crate as she turns to Castor.

"Impossible, machines have no need for organs! And there's no way a machine could corrupt a tech-priest, it's always been humans or chaos what have corrupted machines. It would be extreme case of heresy to create a monstrosity that could warp the minds of tech-priests, one which both I and Machinous would punish severely!" Castor stretched his chin, trying to figure out what happened to the tech-priests. Machinous opened the crate and found to his surprise a crystal, a purple pulsing crystal. He reached down to touch it, then put his hand to rip his mouth. Jain stepped next to Machinous and reached towards the crystal. Jain gasped as Machinous's metal hand grabbed his wrist, he looked at the tech-priest's face who shook his head. Adrastia strode over to them, followed by Merrick, Fron and Castor.

"What is it Machinous?" Adrastia gazed down at the crystal, _crystal stinks of chaos or it's that disgusting colour, _Adrastia thought. The crystal gave off a pulsing purple hue. There was a pool of purple liquid near the crystal from a broken vial. Merrick and Fron looked at the crystal and then each other and nodded.

"I've heard of rocks like this, near the outer ridge of the galaxy. Miners dig it up, most get sick and die. Nothing compared to stories of some forge worlds who find them, everyone disappears along with the machines." Fron said as he gazed into the reflection of himself on the surface off the crystal.

"Adrastia, anyway we can make this harmless?" Castor asked, he felt the temptation to grab it to test the tales, but his mind screamed no as something was very wrong.

"I believe these containers can work. According to the data these can prevent harmful energy inside them from affected non-augmented personal. It's also safe enough for me to pick up due to me being mostly bionic." Machinous reached into the crate and picked up the crystal, he rubbed the crystal in his bionic palm then put it into the container. Machinous nodded and passed the small box to Adrastia, she walked towards the group of guardsmen while examining the crystal. Merrick, Fron and Castor followed her. Machinous reached up to his mouth, he quietly spit a small shard of the crystal. He examined it and smiled._ I can feel its power,_ Machinous thought, _and power that could forward humanity on the Quest of Knowledge, Emperor and Omnissiah be prised. _He swallowed the shard again and walked toward the group.

* * *

Dilosia screamed as she was pulled towards the maw of the machine, tears wallowing up in her eyes, she could see the mangled shredded bodies and screaming comrades floating into the light before her. She saw a woman floating next to her, a wrapped cloth near her chest, the peaceful face of the mother and child was forever etched in her memory. She then saw the massive claws around the centre of the planet opened wide and then crash down on the remaining hull of the Prometheus behind her. The vacuum of space disappeared as sound reached Dilosia's ears, the roar and screech of machinery where like Noise Marine's dreaded symphony.

Dilosia watched as she approached a massive hole with shutters that smashed close and open, grinding and crashing flesh and metal into smaller bits. She screamed as she was just a few feet away. Then she passed through a massive door that broken down the large metal debris, Dilosia breathed a sigh of relief only for it to die in her throat. Before her was a mass of swirling liquid, void suited humans screamed as they tried to escape it. Metal melted in it and the crew members scream as their skin dissolved before their eyes, the liquid ran red with blood. Dilosia plummeted into the liquid, she scream as it burnt through her suit and unto her skin. Then a massive debris of metal impacted into her face with a sickening crack.

The liquid remains of the baths of acid were pumped into tubes; several silhouettes surrounded the tubes, some of their eyes glowed greenish purple and other just purple. One of them let out a gurgled roar as it spotted a heavily burnt survivor who managed to escape the acid. He saw the silhouettes, their humanoid forms easily seen by the glowing rock spouting from their bodies. The Imperial ran towards the exit only to be stop, a dark shadow blocked his escape. A chill went up his spine as it opened it mouth, the purple light highlighted the split mouth and to his horror a half human face. Then it spoke.

"Need bioelectricity...must regenerate... need blood!" The scream made the man run towards it, he tried to dodge to the right side but was caught by the creature. The full horror of the monster was all too clear, the tech-priest face and body was a horrible fusion of flesh and metal, a long second tongue snaked out of the spilt maw and struck out. The Imperial scream as it bit into his eye, with a roar of anger he smashed his fist into its throat. The throat broke and tore apart hanging on by cables and flesh that proceed to reform itself before the man's very eyes. He ran from it only to stop as he felt something in his chest. He looked in front himself and saw a long skeletal arm, its hand deep in his ribcage. His last sight was a pair of greenish purple eyes and jagged jaws then a sickening crunch.


End file.
